Tigers rebrand faces FA vote

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The plan to ditch the traditional Hull City AFC name in favour of Hull Tigers has been a divisive and distracting one ever since owner Assem Allam floated it in the summer of 2013.

It was rejected by the FA Council last April, though that verdict was later set aside after the club an appeal via an independent arbitration tribunal.

The upshot is the same proposal will now be put before the same decision-making body, with Allam having met an April 1 deadline to resubmit the case.

A three-man panel formed from the FA’s membership committee has already considered the application and it would be a surprise if they had not reiterated their previous recommendation to reject the name change.

There is no guarantee that the council will follow suit and vote the same way again when it convenes at the FA’s summer conference at St George’s Park, but the Allam family are thought to be braced for bad news.

They remain convinced that rebranding the club is the only way to bring new investment in from untapped overseas markets – though quite how lucrative any such deals would be following relegation from the Barclays Premier League is unclear.

Allam remains insistent that he will sell the club if he cannot push through the Tigers switch.

Whatever the decision manager Steve Bruce will be hoping the issue can be kicked into the long grass well before the start of the season.

Discontentment among fans and regular protests were a feature of the club’s two-year stay in the top flight, with Bruce frequently cast as the mediator between supporters and owner.

He performed the role with aplomb, never compromising his popularity with the fanbase but always underlining his respect for Allam.

Yet as he attempts to drag his side out of the Sky Bet Championship for a second time, it is a balancing act he could do without.